[gentoo-user] Microphone not working

[gentoo-user] Microphone not working

[Grant]

The microphone on my laptop isn't working and I'm not sure how to
troubleshoot it.  I've tried using it in twinkle and arecord but it
doesn't work in either.  The headset works fine on a different system.
 Can anyone help with this?

- Grant

Re: [gentoo-user] Microphone not working

[Albert Hopkins]

On Mon, 2009-01-05 at 12:17 -0800, Grant wrote:
> The microphone on my laptop isn't working and I'm not sure how to
> troubleshoot it.  I've tried using it in twinkle and arecord but it
> doesn't work in either.  The headset works fine on a different system.
>  Can anyone help with this?
> 
> - Grant
> 

      * Do you get an error?
      * Have you unmuted the mic and set it as the input device (in
        alsamixer)?
      * My laptop has both an internal mic and an external mic port.
        Have you selected the correct one for the input device?

-a

Re: [gentoo-user] Microphone not working

[Grant]

>> The microphone on my laptop isn't working and I'm not sure how to
>> troubleshoot it.  I've tried using it in twinkle and arecord but it
>> doesn't work in either.  The headset works fine on a different system.
>>  Can anyone help with this?
>>
>> - Grant
>>
>
>      * Do you get an error?

I don't get an error.

>      * Have you unmuted the mic and set it as the input device (in
>        alsamixer)?

It actually doesn't appear in alsamixer although it used to when it
was working.  I have Master, PCM, Line In, Mic Boost, and Internal.
It shows "View: [Playback]" at the top.

>      * My laptop has both an internal mic and an external mic port.
>        Have you selected the correct one for the input device?

xfce's volume control does allow me to select between the input
sources "Mic" and "Front Mic" but I've tried both.

Is the mic input addressed as the same device hw(0,0) as the output?

- Grant

Re: [gentoo-user] Microphone not working

[Willie Wong]

On Mon, Jan 05, 2009 at 12:17:27PM -0800, Grant wrote:
> The microphone on my laptop isn't working and I'm not sure how to
> troubleshoot it.  I've tried using it in twinkle and arecord but it
> doesn't work in either.  The headset works fine on a different system.
>  Can anyone help with this?

Missing driver? 

Also, I know that some of the newer laptops have these weird function
keys that you need to use to unmute the microphone prior to using it.
Perhaps something like that? 

Wait... now I am re-reading your post, and am wondering: is your
microphone built-in to the laptop or on a separate headset? The
previous two questions assumes the former. For latter, did you unmute
the right channels in amixer/alsamixer? 

Just throwing up some random ideas. 

W
-- 
Willie W. Wong                                      wwong@math.princeton.edu
408 Fine Hall,  Department of Mathematics,  Princeton University,  Princeton
A mathematician's reputation rests on the number of bad proofs he has given.

Re: [gentoo-user] Microphone not working

[damian]

On Mon, Jan 5, 2009 at 9:17 PM, Grant <emailgrant@gmail.com> wrote:
> The microphone on my laptop isn't working and I'm not sure how to
> troubleshoot it.  I've tried using it in twinkle and arecord but it
> doesn't work in either.  The headset works fine on a different system.
>  Can anyone help with this?
Chipset of the audio card? Laptop model?

> - Grant
>
>

Re: [gentoo-user] Microphone not working

[Grant]

>> The microphone on my laptop isn't working and I'm not sure how to
>> troubleshoot it.  I've tried using it in twinkle and arecord but it
>> doesn't work in either.  The headset works fine on a different system.
>>  Can anyone help with this?
> Chipset of the audio card? Laptop model?

It's one of those built-in intel-hda cards and the laptop is an Acer.
The mic actually used to work.

- Grant

Re: [gentoo-user] Microphone not working

[damian]

On Wed, Jan 7, 2009 at 7:28 PM, Grant <emailgrant@gmail.com> wrote:
>>> The microphone on my laptop isn't working and I'm not sure how to
>>> troubleshoot it.  I've tried using it in twinkle and arecord but it
>>> doesn't work in either.  The headset works fine on a different system.
>>>  Can anyone help with this?
>> Chipset of the audio card? Laptop model?
>
> It's one of those built-in intel-hda cards and the laptop is an Acer.
> The mic actually used to work.
We have the same problem then! I had a laptop Acer (now it's my
girfriends') Aspire 5720G. After a kernel upgrade the mic stopped
working. So far I had no luck.

My girlfriend just bought an external microphone (she's more pragmatic
than me) and that worked.

Sorry I'm not able to help.

>
> - Grant
>
>

Re: [gentoo-user] Microphone not working

[Paul Hartman]

On Wed, Jan 7, 2009 at 2:19 PM, damian <damian.only@gmail.com> wrote:
> On Wed, Jan 7, 2009 at 7:28 PM, Grant <emailgrant@gmail.com> wrote:
>>>> The microphone on my laptop isn't working and I'm not sure how to
>>>> troubleshoot it.  I've tried using it in twinkle and arecord but it
>>>> doesn't work in either.  The headset works fine on a different system.
>>>>  Can anyone help with this?
>>> Chipset of the audio card? Laptop model?
>>
>> It's one of those built-in intel-hda cards and the laptop is an Acer.
>> The mic actually used to work.
> We have the same problem then! I had a laptop Acer (now it's my
> girfriends') Aspire 5720G. After a kernel upgrade the mic stopped
> working. So far I had no luck.
>
> My girlfriend just bought an external microphone (she's more pragmatic
> than me) and that worked.
>
> Sorry I'm not able to help.

You guys might need to specify your specific model of hda-intel in
/etc/modprobe.d/alsa since it may not be auto-detecting the
capabilities of which chipset your laptop has. For example on my
desktop I added this line:

options snd-hda-intel model=6stack-dig

Please read the kernel module documentation for a large list of
hda-intel chips and configurations. Hopefully you can find one that
works for you (if that has anything to do with it).

/usr/src/linux/Documentation/sound/alsa/ALSA-Configuration.txt

good luck :)
Paul

Re: [gentoo-user] Microphone not working

[damian]

> You guys might need to specify your specific model of hda-intel in
> /etc/modprobe.d/alsa since it may not be auto-detecting the
> capabilities of which chipset your laptop has. For example on my
> desktop I added this line:
>
> options snd-hda-intel model=6stack-dig
I remember I also tried that, but probably I haven't tried hard enough.

Thanks Paul!

Re: [gentoo-user] Microphone not working

[Grant]

>>>>> The microphone on my laptop isn't working and I'm not sure how to
>>>>> troubleshoot it.  I've tried using it in twinkle and arecord but it
>>>>> doesn't work in either.  The headset works fine on a different system.
>>>>>  Can anyone help with this?
>>>> Chipset of the audio card? Laptop model?
>>>
>>> It's one of those built-in intel-hda cards and the laptop is an Acer.
>>> The mic actually used to work.
>> We have the same problem then! I had a laptop Acer (now it's my
>> girfriends') Aspire 5720G. After a kernel upgrade the mic stopped
>> working. So far I had no luck.
>>
>> My girlfriend just bought an external microphone (she's more pragmatic
>> than me) and that worked.
>>
>> Sorry I'm not able to help.
>
> You guys might need to specify your specific model of hda-intel in
> /etc/modprobe.d/alsa since it may not be auto-detecting the
> capabilities of which chipset your laptop has. For example on my
> desktop I added this line:
>
> options snd-hda-intel model=6stack-dig
>
> Please read the kernel module documentation for a large list of
> hda-intel chips and configurations. Hopefully you can find one that
> works for you (if that has anything to do with it).
>
> /usr/src/linux/Documentation/sound/alsa/ALSA-Configuration.txt
>
> good luck :)
> Paul

Thanks Paul.  I've been using model=acer and I just tried a couple
others, some worked some didn't.  I also tried removing and replacing
my second USB sound card definition.  The strange thing is I've come
back to my original config and it's working now.  Could another file
have gotten out of order and my playing with the settings got it back
together?

- Grant

Re: [gentoo-user] Microphone not working

[damian]

> Thanks Paul.  I've been using model=acer and I just tried a couple
> others, some worked some didn't.  I also tried removing and replacing
> my second USB sound card definition.  The strange thing is I've come
> back to my original config and it's working now.  Could another file
> have gotten out of order and my playing with the settings got it back
> together?
I'm glad you could make it. Can you send the relevant configuration files?

Re: [gentoo-user] Microphone not working

[Grant]

>> Thanks Paul.  I've been using model=acer and I just tried a couple
>> others, some worked some didn't.  I also tried removing and replacing
>> my second USB sound card definition.  The strange thing is I've come
>> back to my original config and it's working now.  Could another file
>> have gotten out of order and my playing with the settings got it back
>> together?
> I'm glad you could make it. Can you send the relevant configuration files?

Sure, here it is, but this config was also not working.  I tried
model=alsa-aspire, model=auto, and I removed the second sound card
definition.  I eventually brought it back to the way it originally was
and now it's working.  Weird.

alias char-major-116 snd
alias char-major-14 soundcore
alias snd-card-0 snd-hda-intel
options snd-hda-intel index=0
options snd-hda-intel model=acer
alias snd-card-1 snd-usb-audio
options snd-usb-audio index=1
alias sound-service-0-0 snd-mixer-oss
alias sound-service-0-1 snd-seq-oss
alias sound-service-0-3 snd-pcm-oss
alias sound-service-0-8 snd-seq-oss
alias sound-service-0-12 snd-pcm-oss
alias /dev/mixer snd-mixer-oss
alias /dev/dsp snd-pcm-oss
alias /dev/midi snd-seq-oss
options snd cards_limit=2

- Grant

Re: [gentoo-user] Microphone not working

[damian]

On Sat, Jan 10, 2009 at 9:25 PM, Grant <emailgrant@gmail.com> wrote:
>>> Thanks Paul.  I've been using model=acer and I just tried a couple
>>> others, some worked some didn't.  I also tried removing and replacing
>>> my second USB sound card definition.  The strange thing is I've come
>>> back to my original config and it's working now.  Could another file
>>> have gotten out of order and my playing with the settings got it back
>>> together?
>> I'm glad you could make it. Can you send the relevant configuration files?
>
> Sure, here it is, but this config was also not working.  I tried
> model=alsa-aspire, model=auto, and I removed the second sound card
> definition.  I eventually brought it back to the way it originally was
> and now it's working.  Weird.
Thanks a lot. I hope it works, but if you said it was not working the
first time, probably there is some other configuration required. Let's
see what happens.

Best regards,
Damian.

> alias char-major-116 snd
> alias char-major-14 soundcore
> alias snd-card-0 snd-hda-intel
> options snd-hda-intel index=0
> options snd-hda-intel model=acer
> alias snd-card-1 snd-usb-audio
> options snd-usb-audio index=1
> alias sound-service-0-0 snd-mixer-oss
> alias sound-service-0-1 snd-seq-oss
> alias sound-service-0-3 snd-pcm-oss
> alias sound-service-0-8 snd-seq-oss
> alias sound-service-0-12 snd-pcm-oss
> alias /dev/mixer snd-mixer-oss
> alias /dev/dsp snd-pcm-oss
> alias /dev/midi snd-seq-oss
> options snd cards_limit=2
>
> - Grant
>
>